Independence Twp. resident holds 5th annual Guitars for Kids concert

Craig Carrick with his guitars in his Independence Township home. Carrick is in charge of Guitars for Kids, a program to raise money to buy guitars for mostly kids in rural areas. Thursday, April ,3, 2014. Tim Thompson-The Oakland Press

INDEPENDENCE TWP. >> The idea behind Guitars for Kids is to bring music into the lives of children who may be less fortunate, struggling to find their way or growing up in areas where there are few cultural opportunities.

Craig Carrick, 52, of Independence Twp., knows firsthand what that is like. Having grown up in a small town, there was not much to do if you didn’t like sports, he said. He liked music, but the schools did not offer any music programs, and there were no local instructors. So, he taught himself how to play guitar and began to reach out to the music community.

“I wasn’t a sports guy. I wasn’t an athlete,” he said. “I liked music. I wanted to play music.”

Throughout his life music has been his hobby and has exposed him to many experiences and longtime friends, he said. He wanted to share that with others.

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So, 12 years ago, he founded Guitars for Kids, and began giving guitars to children at a music festival in Mio, where he spends a lot of time. The first couple of years, he bankrolled the program himself, and, gradually started raising money through friends and key players in the industry.

This is the fifth year he has organized a concert to raise money for the program. Guitars for Kids will be at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 19, at Callahan’s Music Hall in Auburn Hills. The program will feature six acts including Peter Madcat Ruth, a Grammy award winning Blues singer. Tickets are $15 for general admission and $25 for reserved seating. Tickets are available at www.atcallahans.com.

So far, Carrick has given out 200 guitars; a few drum sets and fiddles, he said. Knowing some people in the industry, he can purchase guitars at a slight discount and about $1000 will pay for 10 guitars, he said. Last year, the concert raised about $2,000, and he hopes to hit that mark again this year. While some of the instruments are donated locally, others are handed out at the annual Nor-East’r Music & Art Festival in Mio.

“We’ve heard of situations where that’s the kind of thing that saved them from making a wrong turn,” he said of the children. “I know it works. It helped me. It introduced me to a lot of friends I’ve kept for years.”

Carrick is well known in the Clarkston area for hosting Carrick House Concerts out of his home for the last 10 years. The monthly events drew musicians from across the country and attracted as many as 70 people to one show. The program was temporarily discontinued, because Carrick just moved. But he would like to start it again this fall. There was no admission fee; Instead, people passed a hat and made donations to the performers.